Boeing warned of busted part in Louisville UPS crash back in 2011

Boeing sent a warning to plane operators in 2011 about the broken part that failed in the fiery UPS plane crash in Louisville, but said it was not a “safety of flight” issue at the time, federal regulators said Wednesday.

The shocking UPS crash, which killed 15 people, was caused by the left engine falling off and exploding as the aircraft attempted to take off. It climbed only 30 feet in the air before blowing up.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board found a that crucial piece of the engine mount, known as a spherical bearing race, had been split in two.

That same spherical bearing race was the subject of a 2011 letter from Boeing, which noted it had failed four times on three different aircraft, according to the NTSB.

“Boeing determined it would not result in a safety-of-flight condition,” the NTSB wrote in an update. Instead, the company suggested the bearing race should be observed during routine inspections.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 that exploded in Louisville was last inspected in October 2021 and wasn’t scheduled for its next inspection for another 7,000 trips. Boeing took over management of all McDonnell Douglas aircraft after buying the company in 1997.

While the MD-11 was previously popular for commercial travel, it was replaced after more efficient aircraft were built and widely distributed. However, it remained widely used for cargo flights until the Nov. 4 crash, when all MD-11s were grounded.

The plane’s predecessor, the DC-10, was involved in the deadliest air accident in American history. That was a distressingly similar 1979 crash when the left engine fell off American Airlines Flight 191 as it departed O’Hare Airport in Chicago. The crash killed 273 people.

The NTSB is expected to issue its final report in the next 10-16 months.

With News Wire Services